Schools

Hewlett-Woodmere School Board Candidate: Mitchell Greebel

Patch sent the same questionnaire to all candidates running for school board this year. The following response — which has not been edited by Patch — is from Mitchell Greebel, who is seeking a seat on the Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education in an at large election.

Tell us about yourself (age, town, profession, family, etc.)

I have been residing in this district with  my family since June 1993. We have 4 children, 3 of whom attended 4 of our public schools; FECC, Ogden Elementary School, Woodmere Middle School, and Hewlett High School. My third child is currently a senior in HHS. My youngest child did attend FECC and Ogden. However, he has special needs and he currently attends a local Special Education program out of district.

What qualifies you to serve as a member of the school board?

I have been a practicing attorney for 29 years. The role of the Board of Education is to advocate and protect the interests of the community. As an attorney I advocate for others as a profession. On a personal level, I have had to advocate for my special needs son since his birth. While I have been residing in the district I have been involved on the Board of Trustee(s) of my synagogue (Congregation Sons of Israel) for the past 15 years and served as the First Vice President.  

I am a past president of the Five Towns Jewish Council. I was personally chosen by our past superintendent, Dr. Omatoni, to serve on his Middle School Advisory Committee regarding the building problems of the middle school. In 2009 I became president of SEPTA (Special Education PTA) and served in that capacity until 2010. Thereafter I served as Central Council Co-President from 2011-2013.  I was among the parents who financially supported the efforts to bring wrestling back into our District. Since that time I have served on the Hewlett Woodmere Wrestling Committee and have been responsible for the ongoing fundraising for this sport in the District together with the other members of the Committee.

Why are you running for the school board?

I have attended almost every board meeting over the past decade and have a deep understanding of the inner workings of how our district functions and the various aspects of the process. Those who know me in this community also know that I am willing to pursue what is right over what is the easy, safe answer.

What is your opinion of the budget that has been presented to the community? What you have done something differently with it?

It would be irresponsible to start discussing a total revamping of our entire budget without having significantly more information in my hands. I have attended nearly every single board meeting over the past decade and I can only imagine how difficult it is for most members of this community who have not stayed in touch with the budget process to fully comprehend the district’s plans and direction. This is part of the problem and I would suggest that the board invites the community to attend and be educated about the ongoing budget decisions as early as the fall and not wait, as the district has historically done, until the late winter.                                               

Aside from the budget, what do you think is the biggest issue facing the school district?

I believe it is imperative for the school board to change the culture which has existed in this district for the past 8 years in continually deferring to the administration regarding the educational vision of our school district. This is our District and the willingness to defer has left us with a school district that is, in my opinion, a shell of its former self. We still have time to turn the tide and it is my intention to help move us in that direction.

What is the school district’s greatest strength?

Hewlett-Woodmere has been known as an amazing school for the arts, music and sciences and it remains the strength both artistically and academically for the district. Our greatest strength is obviously our children. Although it might sound cliché, the fact remains that in all of the process this simple fact is often lost. In addition, the FECC, HES, OES, WMS and HHS building-level school administrators and teachers remain the strength of the district and their ability to educate our children cannot be understated.  

Finally, our parent population and its desire to see our children receive a substantial and valuable education is what has made this district attractive and one to which people historically have moved to when choosing a place to raise their family. The fact that the parents in this district are fully cognizant of the fact that our students are no longer achieving what they have in the past and their unwillingness to accept these failings should give all of us pride in knowing we, as parents, want and expect more from our administrators.  

What is its greatest weakness?

I believe that the lack of both transparency and inclusion for all aspects of the community, including, but not limited to, parents with and without children in the district and the private school population, as partners in the entire process is our biggest weakness. I have heard very often by some members of the community that they feel disconnected to what happens and the decisions being made by the administration and board.

The diversity of our community requires leadership that can speak to all aspects of differing vantage points. I believe I can speak to these groups as I have been listening and advocating for all of them for years in my capacity as a SEPTA president and as a co-president of the Central Council. The fact that this district is as diverse as it is and yet, most factions share the same thought about the inability of this administration to reach out and demonstrate their awareness of people’s concerns should be of concern to everyone.

In addition, the fact that it is perceived that our administration is extremely top-heavy salary-wise cannot be ignored. Although we have been told this is not the case, the administration continues to fail to provide the community with evidence to the contrary. This is something that requires fixing as our tax dollars become tighter and tighter.

If you are elected, what is the one thing you’d like to see accomplished during your term?

In terms of departments and programming that requires immediate change I would look specifically at our Department of Special Education along with the collaboration of the superintendents of this district. Due to inefficiencies and lack of transparency within this department our parents are not being provided with the opportunity to be part of the decision making involving their children in a respectful manner.

The institution of the Co-Teaching model has been unsuccessful, not just for our children with special needs but for our general education population as well. In the future any new educational programming should be required to be piloted so that the administration can accurately assess and make objective changes where needed and the board would have a more precise ability to analyze the value of the implementation of a district-wide change to programming.

Unfortunately, the Co-Teaching model did not meet any of these criteria that I would recommend be implemented. The result has been a program that was not properly planned and staff which are insufficiently trained. What makes this even more of a problem is that there is no money in the budget for additional training of our staff, so another whole year of this program will continue without a system of checks and balances in place. It was questionable enough that the district appeared to have wasted well over $40,000 to bring Co-Teaching into our community but the failure of the Department of Special Education, which spearheaded this program, to not properly plan, structure, scaffold, train, implement and execute when it brought this program into district has been a very sad and tragic turn of events.

Additionally, the institution of the one size fits all math program in the middle school has not been successful. While we are often told that we teach to the child and not to the test, any of us who has children in the district knows this is not a totally accurate statement. Now with a math program which was never piloted, we have another year of students, after having lived through 5 different math programs while in their elementary school, who will be subjected to a math program designed to treat everyone as the same which is causing problems for students across the boards. The students who need the accelerated math program are being slowed down and those who need the additional support are being required to hire tutors even after the district set up labs for students who need additional support. Is this really the best we can offer our children?

Where do you see public education on Long Island going in the future and what role do you hope to have in it?

Anyone who does not understand that the entire system of public school education is under attack has been missing the point of unfunded mandates coupled with a tax cap levy. The desire to privatize education in this country is well known and has the backing of extremely wealthy individuals and companies.

Once some well known school districts become technically "insolvent" because of these issues I am hopeful the rest of us will wake up and demand that our elected officials rethink their positions regarding both the mandates and the tax cap levy. While attending college I was a lobbyist for the Student Associations of Student Unions (SASU) whose goal was to protect the low cost of the SUNY school system. I do not believe any member of any school board can sit by and not be willing to confront our elected officials about the ongoing plans to undermined the public school education many of us on Long Island expect for our communities.

Would you like to add anything else?

Please remember to vote "Yes" on May 21 for our school budget and to vote for me as your next Board of Education member.


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